Re: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread
I'm also doubtful about if it is the right thing to give this qualification right to host countries just like that. I don't know if this gives the right to that country to join the group stage directly just because of hosting the tournament. That country should also earn their way to the main tournament by playing qualification matches.
Qatar really didn't make us watch some good football from them. The players just represented their country in the last World Cup and that's all. They were an easy target for all of their opponents in their group.
In the 2026 World Cup there are going to be 3 host countries like Mexico, Canada and USA. Now all of these countries have qualified for the main tournament already.
Some benefits must be given to the countries hosting the cup and traditionally allowing them to qualify automatically to the tournament is one of them, besides even if we are talking about three countries this time around with the increase on the number of teams allowed to the world cup and a reduction on the spots available to the CONCACAF that will be enough to offset this, besides the USA, Canada and Mexico qualified for the 2022 Qatar world cup so I doubt we will see the same abysmal performance we saw with the Qatar soccer team. Qatar really didn't make us watch some good football from them. The players just represented their country in the last World Cup and that's all. They were an easy target for all of their opponents in their group.
In the 2026 World Cup there are going to be 3 host countries like Mexico, Canada and USA. Now all of these countries have qualified for the main tournament already.
I think they are already taking benefits, they host the world cup games there are going to be many teams that come to these countries, and many fans from all over the world will come with them to watch the games, obviously, these people need hotels to stay there and foods to eat they will use the facilities from the host and they should pay money for it, this huge demand is enough for the hosts to help their business.
It seems to me that this was the case in the past, but I am not sure that it still applies.
The organizers of the world cup in Qatar last year had almost no infrastructure necessary to organize such a large competition and had to build all the stadiums before the start of the world cup.
It is a huge cost in billions of dollars and I am sure that the organizers in Qatar have not earned that much from fans or from TV and marketing rights.
However, the organizers of the World Cup in Qatar clearly did not plan to make money from the World Cup in football, but it was more important for them to get the big international promotion that comes with such big events and to change the public image of Qatar as a non-democratic state.